Nurses Rock At All Stages In The Circle Of Life

Hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospices, and other types of entities would cease to exist without nurses who function as the backbone of the healthcare system. Nurses make the difference at all stages in the circle of life.

With more than 3 million registered nurses (RNs) and more than 750,000 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in the United States, nurses are the perpetual glue of the healthcare system. Do not allow anyone to tell you that you are not important, for healthcare in America would be in shambles if nurses were suddenly removed from the landscape.

As a nurse, you are vital because healthcare facilities exist to provide nursing care. In other words, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospices, and other types of entities would cease to exist without nurses who function as the backbone of these healthcare facilities. Nurses make the difference at all points in the circle of life. From the cradle to the grave, it is the nurse who positively affects outcomes through patient-centered communication, timely and accurate nursing assessments, safe medication administration, monitoring, intervention, education, advocacy, technical skills, and a whole host of other aspects of care.

If you were born in a hospital or birthing center, thank a nurse for helping to facilitate your safe entry into this world. Thank the postpartum nurse for monitoring you while making sure that your first 24 to 48 hours of life were comfortable. If you were born at home with professional assistance from a nurse midwife, you also have a nurse to thank for helping to safely bring you into the world. If you spent any time in a neonatal intensive care unit, the nurses' watchful eyes and skills kept you alive.

If you regularly visited doctors offices and clinics during your childhood and adolescence, you have most likely been impacted in some way by nurses. If you have ever become sick during school hours, you probably have a school nurse to thank for assisting you through that rough time. If you spent any time in a childrens' hospital or pediatric unit of an acute care hospital at any point during your childhood, nurses provided your care.

If you are a woman who has given natural birth at least once, thank a nurse for vigilantly monitoring you during labor and ensuring that your child made his or her way into this world safely. If you are a woman who has undergone at least one Cesarean section, be assured that a nurse was present in that operating suite while your offspring was being delivered into this world. Thank the nurses who provided the all-important postpartum care for you and your child(ren).

If you have needed any surgical procedures during your lifetime, a barrage of nurses cared for you in the operating room, in the post-anesthesia recovery unit, and on the hospital floor. If you have undergone a same-day surgery, ambulatory surgery nurses provided the all-inclusive care during your short stay. If you have ever needed emergent care, the nurses in the emergency room or urgent care center helped to stabilize you with their quick thinking and nursing care.

If you have ever had a psychiatric emergency or any major mental illness that required an inpatient stay at a facility, thank the psychiatric nurses for providing well-rounded care. If you have ever been gravely ill, the technical skills and diligent nursing care provided by critical care nurses kept you alive. If you have ever needed community based care, it is very likely that home health nurses, public health nurses, and/or private duty nursing staff have touched your life.

If your loved ones have ever ended up in a nursing home or assisted living facility, thank the long term care nurses for caring for your elders. If you know someone who is terminally ill and receives hospice, the hospice nurses will maintain the patient's dignity and comfort while ensuring that the patient does not leave this world alone.

Nurses rock at all points in the circle of life. We are here for patients from the time they are born and will remain with them until the day they die.

Thank you for the wonderful post commuter. Your perspective is stellar!

Aug 13, '12

Thank you for the wonderfully written post, The Commuter. Once again, you have given me the inspiration to be a better nurse.

Aug 15, '12

This gives me the warm fuzzies. Excellent article

Aug 15, '12

Excellent and outstanding post by the Commuter.This has really inspired me,and as an RN feel proud to be a nurse,and a privilege to belong to that elite cadre of nursing.I have never felt less,or ashamed to be an RN,as some others have felt.On the contrary,I have felt more dedicated and committed to not only my nursing profession,but also to all my patients,other people under my care,friends and family.No doubt about it,if it wasn't for most of the loving and caring nurses out there, including the LPN's,along with the military nurses, helping to protect,and serving on the front lines,the world would never be the same without them.And if some people are just too plain ignorant to understand,support,or ridicule our profession, including other people with other titles,who are usually not very sensitive, and caring to other people's needs,especially the nurses,then I feel totally sorry for them.After all,it's their loss not ours.Thanks for sharing this great post.Nurses totally rock, period!

Aug 15, '12

Thanks for the article. It's not very easy to miss an encounter with a nurse in a lifetime. I am glad I am a nurse.

Aug 16, '12

Awesome, this is exactly why I am pursuing a nursing degree! I love it! Thank you!

Dec 14, '12

Unfortunately, they are not considered important enough to be adequately compensated.
Last week I interviewed for a job; it is part-time/on-call, with no benefits, at $28 per hour.
This week I had another interview, also part-time/on-call at $26 per hour.

In 1979, I was making $22 per hour. Salaries have not kept up with inflation.

This is really a shame, where teachers, firemen, policemen, nurses are paid so little to do such important work, when CEOs of some companies are making tens of thousands of dollars per hour.

Excellent and outstanding post by the Commuter.This has really inspired me,and as an RN feel proud to be a nurse,and a privilege to belong to that elite cadre of nursing.I have never felt less,or ashamed to be an RN,as some others have felt.On the contrary,I have felt more dedicated and committed to not only my nursing profession,but also to all my patients,other people under my care,friends and family.No doubt about it,if it wasn't for most of the loving and caring nurses out there, including the LPN's,along with the military nurses, helping to protect,and serving on the front lines,the world would never be the same without them.And if some people are just too plain ignorant to understand,support,or ridicule our profession, including other people with other titles,who are usually not very sensitive, and caring to other people's needs,especially the nurses,then I feel totally sorry for them.After all,it's their loss not ours.Thanks for sharing this great post.Nurses totally rock, period!

I love the responses, and thanks The Commuter and Sir RomeoRN you hit he nail in the head!!! I like that we have a Nurses Rock Category. Despite our challenges, and wage freezes (even though we have our lovely nursing brothers, this is a female dominated profession, maybe we can start a Lily Leadbetter Lawsuit??? ) I feel that
this is a GREAT profession. Despite the occasional day to day challenges, politics, and craziness in between. At the end of the day, I truly love what I do, and what I have done in this profession!!!

Let's think positive and celebrate our profession...hope we can ALL look at what we do as enjoyable, positive, or pleasing...